$20 million mining order

ABB won an order worth $20 million to provide the complete electrical and automation system for six underground mine incline conveyors for Newcrest Mining’s Cadia East gold and copper project, located in south-eastern Australia.

Once completed in 2013, the Cadia East project will be Australia’s largest underground mine.

ABB’s scope of supply for the project includes a conveyor control system that will optimise the overall performance, reliability, energy efficiency and operational flexibility of the system over its lifetime.

The company will design, engineer and supply a full electrical solution with modular switchrooms, transformers, 33 kV ring main units, water chiller systems, motor control centres and mine conveyor control program to manage the ACS 6000 multidrives and motors. Delivery is scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.

“ABB’s global engineering resources and mining industry expertise, combined with our proven technology, provide a technically robust and energy-efficient system that will optimise performance over the entire productive life of this mine,” said Veli-Matti Reinikkala, head of ABB’s Process Automation division.

The Cadia East orebody is one of the world's largest gold deposits, comprising a total mineral resource of 2347 million tonnes containing 33.2 million ounces of gold and 6.59 million tonnes of copper. The mine is expected to be in operation for at least 30 years.